Pandemic power-grabs: autocrats’ covid opportunism

As it has with so many other trends, the pandemic has <a href="https://www.economist.com/international/2020/10/17/the-pandemic-has-eroded-democracy-and-respect-for-human-rights?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&amp;utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_source=third-party-host&amp;utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">hastened the decline</a> of democracy and human rights; covid-19 provides autocrats with perfect cover. The plummeting price for the cobalt that powers electronics has <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2020/10/17/in-congo-the-little-guys-are-jailed-for-stealing-minerals?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&amp;utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_source=third-party-host&amp;utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">upended lives</a> and driven crime in the Democratic Republic of Congo. And <a href="https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/10/17/does-sound-like-light-have-a-maximum-speed?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&amp;utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_source=third-party-host&amp;utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">how physicists found</a> an upper bound for the speed of sound. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of <em>The Economist</em>, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a><hr /><p style="color: grey; font-size: 0.75em;"> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: grey;" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>